My rat is overgrooming and balding. Health issue or loneliness?

In such a young rat the most common reason for hair loss is parasites, I would trear him for them anyway as they can be hard to see. If that doesnt help then I would consider allergy, dust free bedfing can help and good quality pellet food specifically formulated for rats.

He could have mites. A skin scraping should be performed and examined under the microscope. It could also be the beginnings of a growth that your rat is trying to bite or scratch off. I'd recommend an exam to better assess the affected area.

It sounds indeed like your rats may be suffering from a mite or louse infection. Treatment usually consists of applying an avermectin such as Revolution or ivermectin available either in pet shops, your vet or over the internet. You can use the Revolution for dogs up to 5 lbs, at a dosage of 0.1 ml/lb of rat (you will need a 1ml syringe to measure out the dose correctly. Of course it would be easier to have the treatment done by your vet after he or she verifies whether this is indeed a mite infection/louse infection. Make sure you remove and destroy all bedding and disinfect all cages and toys.

Hi there! Pablo does look pretty itchy by those pictures. Mites are usually microscopic, so if you can see the bug it may be something different. I have seen many rats with lice. Lice are species specific so they are not likely to affect you. You can bathe him and buy a tiny comb to start picking out the bugs and eggs, but he will also likely need to see a veterinarian for medication to get rid of the infestation. Thorough cleaning of the cage and daily bedding changes will also need to be done. I hope he heals quickly!

I would be concerned that the rat that has hair in its feces is grooming himself excessively. If he is showing any signs of excessive grooming, itching or hair loss, I would see your vet to help determine the cause. If the feces continue to be oddly shaped and have hair present then I would also talk to your vet to make sure his fur and skin look okay. Sometimes they will groom excessively when you aren't watching. Also talk to your vet if either of them become really lethargic or stops eating as this could also indocate a number of problems like an infection. I hope this helps!

Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I can see the hairloss you are referring to. This would commonly be caused by overgrooming by a cagemate, but since Jim lives alone, he could be overgrooming himself due to boredom. He may also have mites, a skin infection, or an autoimmune condition. I would recommend having your vet take a small samples of skin from the area and sending it off as a biopsy to definitively determine what is going on.

Poor Pumpkin! You are correct atet it could be from overgrooming, as being in a cattery can be stressful for cats. But it could also be due to a medical illness such as ringworm, which can occur in places like catteries where there are lots of cats. I don't think you will be annoying your vet by having Pumpkin seen, and I do recommend taking her into the vet in the morning just to make sure it isn't something like ringworm.